| I recently purchased a home. I have a nice size yard that is partially shady and I wanted to know what plants could I plant that doesn't need a lot of matenance. I also have a dog that goes to the bathroom all over the yard so I wanted to know what kind of protection I can get for my yard from the dog as well as what kind of flowers and plants to plant that can survive in my yard. |
| I can start you on the right track by recommended some shade loving plants, but there are some cautions about trying to plant lawn in a shady area. Turfgrasses, except for tall fescues, need all day sunshine in order to thrive, and most grasses cannot stand up well if dogs are in the family. Dog urine will kill the grass and the constant foot traffic and possible digging will make a wreck out of the lawn. So, you might want to rethink your plan and perhaps put a fenced dog run into your yard or plant groundcovers rather than turfgrass. With that said, here are some shade tolerant plants to consider growing in your yard: Aegopodium p. 'Variegatum' (Bishop's Weed) which provides a dense carpet of green and white foliage; Ajuga varieties (Carpet Bugles): a low carpet of leaves, blue flower spikes; Asarum europeaum (European Wild Ginger) with polished, emerald-green leaves; Astilbe which has fluffy flower plumes and ferny leaves; Campanula carpatica (Carpathian Bellflower) has large blue saucer flowers, grows in low mounds; Carex morrowi 'Augeo-Variegata' Mounds of evergreen, yellow-striped leaves; Chrysogonum virginianum (Goldenstar) Long blooming with starry yellow flowers ; Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley) White, scented flowers; Dicentra spectabilis (Bleeding Hearts) Arches of heart-shaped flowers; Dicentra x 'Luxurient' (Bleeding Hearts) Low ferny carpet, cherry red flowers; Digitalis (Foxgloves) Tall spikes of spotted flowers; Doronicum cordatum (Leopard's Bane) Clean, yellow daisy flowers; Epimedium X rubrum Red-veined/margined leaves, red flowers; Hardy Ferns of all sorts A great diversity of leaf color and height; Galium odoratum (Sweet Woodruff) Carpets of cartwheel leaves, white flowers; Helleborus orientalis (Hellebore) Large, nodding flowers in early spring; Hosta 'August Moon' Crisp mound of bright yellow leaves; Hosta sieboldiana 'Frances Williams' Huge blue leaves edged in yellow; Hosta undulata 'Variegata' Clumps of wavy green and white leaves; Lamiastrum 'Herman's Pride' Creeping carpet of silver-veined leaves; Lamium maculatum varieties Carpets of white or white striped leaves; Ligularia dentata 'Desdemona' Tall purple-leaved clump, orange flowers; Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' Creeping mat of bright yellow leaves; Mentha requienii (Corsican mint) Strongly scented flat green mat. Self-seeds; Myosotis varieties (Forget-Me-Nots) Mists of small blue, yellow-eyed flowers; Primula X 'Wanda' Low mats smothered in magenta flowers; Pulmonaria varieties Mounds of silvery leaves, blue flowers. Hope these suggestions are helpful. |
